Acid anhydrides, in particular succinic anhydride, are valuable reactive intermediates commonly used in a variety of applications. For example, acid anhydrides are used in copolymers to produce biodegradable polyesters. Additionally, acid anhydrides are useful intermediates in organic synthesis because they are easily ring opened to form diacid monoesters, diacids or other derivatives. Succinic anhydride is particularly useful as a precursor to 4 carbon commodity chemicals such as tetrahydrofuran, gamma butyrolactone and 1,4-butanediol.
Previous production methods for acid anhydrides, including succinic anhydride, included dehydration of corresponding acids or hydrogenation of maleic anhydride. Additional production methods include catalyzed carbonylation of alkynes, alkenoic acids and lactones. Many of the methods suffered from low yield, production of many byproducts or lacked generality. Novel methods using more cost effective starting materials are sought.